Measurement of Whole-Body Vibration in Taxi Drivers： Mitsuhiko FUNAKOSHI, et al. Kyushu Institute for Social Medicine--In a previous epidemiological study we reported that the prevalence (45.8%) of ...low-back pain (LBP) and the two-year incidence (25.9%) of LBP in 284 male taxi drivers in Japan was comparable with rates reported for other occupational drivers in which LBP frequently occurs. LBP was significantly related with the level of uncomfortable road vibrations, and, importantly, increased with total mileage. The aim of this study was to measure whole-body vibration (WBV) on the driver's seat pan of 12 taxis operating under actual working conditions. The results were evaluated according to the health guidelines in International Standard ISO 2631-1：1997. Finally, the relation between total mileage and WBV was investigated. The majority of the frequency-weighted r.m.s. accelerations of the taxis fell into the "potential health risks" zone, under ISO 2631-1：1997. It was clear that the taxi drivers were exposed to serious WBV magnitudes. Therefore, occupational health and safety management should be carried out to help prevent adverse health effects in taxi drivers. In particular, reduction of WBV in taxis and shortening of driving time to reduce duration of WBV exposure should be considered. Moreover, because many taxi drivers work 18 h every other day, the shortening of working hours and taking of rest breaks while working should be considered. Frequency-weighted r.m.s. accelerations of taxis had a tendency to decrease as total mileage increased. The relation between total mileage and WBV should be investigated by taking measurements on the floor and the back rest in addition to the seat pan. (J Occup Health 2003; 46：119-124)
In hypoparathyroidism, areal bone mineral density (BMD) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is above average and skeletal indices by bone biopsy are abnormal. We used high resolution peripheral ...quantitative computed tomography (HRpQCT) and finite element analysis (FEA) to further investigate skeletal microstructure and estimated bone strength. We studied 60 hypoparathyroid subjects on conventional therapy using DXA, HRpQCT and FEA of the distal radius and tibia compared to normative controls from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study. In hypoparathyroid women and men, areal BMD was above average at the lumbar spine and hip sites by DXA; radial BMD was also above average in hypoparathyroid women. Using HRpQCT, cortical volumetric BMD was increased in the hypoparathyroid cohort compared to controls at both the radius and tibia. Cortical porosity was reduced at both sites in pre- and postmenopausal women and at the tibia in young men with a downward trend at the radius in men. At the tibia, trabecular number was increased in premenopausal women and men and trabecular thickness was lower in women. Ultimate stress and failure load at both sites for the hypoparathyroid subjects were similar to controls. Using a linear regression model, at both radius and tibia, each increment in age decreased ultimate stress and failure load while each increment in duration of hypoparathyroidism increased these same indices. These results provide additional evidence for the critical role of parathyroid hormone in regulating skeletal microstructure. Longer disease duration may mitigate the adverse effects of age on estimated bone strength in hypoparathyroidism.
We report on the time-differential muSR measurement at 200 MHz (under a transverse field of 1.475 T) using a pulsed muon beam at KEK (). The initial muon spin direction is flipped by 90 using a ...radio-frequency (RF) pulse immediately after muon implantation, which allows observation of muSR time spectra without limitation of beam pulse width delta. A prospect for the routine use of this pi/2-RF pulse technique at the J-PARC MUSE is discussed.
Receptor-binding cancer antigen expressed on SiSo cells (RCAS1) is one of the membrane molecules expressed on human cancer cells and is presumed to play a protective role for tumor cells against ...immune surveillance by inhibition of clonal expansion and induction of cell death in immunocytes.
To address whether RCAS1 is expressed in pancreatic cancer and whether serologic diagnostic evaluation is useful compared with that of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and soluble Fas ligand.
Immunohistochemical expression of RCAS1 was examined by staining with a 22-1-1 monoclonal antibody, and serum RCAS1 concentrations were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 20 cases of ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and other pancreatic diseases.
Immunohistochemically, RCAS1 detection occurred in 100% (20/20) of ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas cases, 100% (6/6) of intraductal papillary-mucinous adenoma of the pancreas cases, and 40% (2/5) of chronic pancreatitis cases. RCAS1 was found in the cytoplasm of cancer cells and ductal cells. Serum RCAS1 concentrations in patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were significantly higher than those in patients with chronic pancreatitis (p < 0.0001), acute pancreatitis (p < 0.005), and autoimmune pancreatitis (p < 0.001). RCAS1 concentrations in patients with intraductal papillary-mucinous adenoma of the pancreas were also significantly higher than those in patients with chronic pancreatitis (p < 0.05) and autoimmune pancreatitis (p < 0.05). Positive serum RCAS1 samples (concentration, > or = 10 U/mL) were found most often in cases of pancreatic neoplasm (80% 16/20, ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas; and 60% 3/5, intraductal papillary-mucinous adenoma of the pancreas). By contrast, in cases of pancreatic inflammatory diseases, raised concentrations occurred in 9.4% (3/32) of chronic pancreatitis cases, none (0/6) of acute pancreatitis cases, and none (0/8) of autoimmune pancreatitis cases. The sensitivity of CA19-9 for ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas was 75% and the specificity was 73.1% compared with chronic pancreatitis. On the other hand, the sensitivity of RCAS1 for ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas was 80% and the specificity was 96.2% compared with chronic pancreatitis. The specificity of RCAS1 for chronic pancreatitis was higher than that of CA19-9. Serum soluble Fas ligand concentrations were not considerably different among these patients.
RCAS1 was highly expressed in ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, and serum RCAS1 concentrations in patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were significantly higher than those in patients with other inflammatory pancreatic diseases. Our results indicate that serum RCAS1 concentrations could be a new marker in screening procedures for pancreatic cancer.
Quasi-one dimensional organic conductor (TMTSF)2X with octahedral anions X PF6, AsF6, and SbF6 have been studied by NMR measurements at the Se-sites which are substantially responsible for ...conductivity in this system. Close resemblances in the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 and the evolution of internal field in the SDW state were observed in the three measured compounds. The existence of the sub-phases in the SDW phase of all these compounds, which is evidenced by T1 but not from spectrum measurements, indicates that this is a common feature among (TMTSF)2X system with an incommensurate SDW wave number and is associated with dynamic property rather than static one.
Eleven cases of uterine granular cell foci were observed in a total of 855 female Donryu rats. All the lesions were microscopical and focal or multifocal in nature, and composed of uniformly large ...cells with abundant granulated eosinophilic cytoplasm. Histopathologically, immunohistochemically and ultrastructurally they resembled granular cell tumours of the uterus reported in rats and mice. The development of granular cell foci may be the result of hormonal stimulation.
The safety and effectiveness of a Vero cell-derived inactivated Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine were compared with those of a current JE vaccine in non-clinical studies and a phase I clinical ...trial. The single-dose toxicity study showed no toxicity of either the current JE vaccine or the investigational Vero cell-derived JE vaccine. In a local irritation study, the degree of irritation caused by both vaccines was determined to be the same as that induced by normal saline. To investigate genotoxicity, a chromosomal aberration test was conducted and the results were negative. Both JE vaccines were administered to a group of 30 subjects who were seronegative (neutralizing antibody titer <10
1) for JEV virus (Beijing-1 Strain). Each subject was subcutaneously inoculated twice at an interval of 1–4 weeks, followed by an additional booster inoculation 4–8 weeks later, and clinical reactions and serological responses were subsequently investigated. Adverse drug reactions of local reaction, headache and malaise were mild, occurring at a rate of 6.7 and 20.0% after administration of the Vero cell-derived JE vaccine and the current JE vaccine, respectively. The seroconversion rate after three doses of both JE vaccines was 100%, while the geometric mean titer for the Vero cell-derived and current JE vaccines was 10
2.35 and 10
2.03, respectively. These results suggest that the safety and effectiveness of the Vero cell-derived inactivated JE vaccine are equal to those of the currently available conventional vaccine in humans, and that the Vero cell-derived vaccine could be a useful second-generation JE vaccine.
An anomalously large positive Knight shift observed in diamagnetic antimony by the positive muon (Kμ) at low temperatures implies that the μ+, which can be considered as a light proton (mμ ⋍ 19mp), ...causes a local paramagnetic center. By applying the muon spin resonance method we have found that this light interstitial occupies time sequentially two different sites, indicating that an additional mechanism is involved.
We have performed transient hole-burning spectroscopy of cresyl violet in binary solvents of different polarity components in order to detect the relaxation of inhomogeneous spectral bandwidths ...(relaxation of dispersion around average energy) in addition to that of spectral peak shift (relaxation of average energy). We proposed in our previous paper (J. Phys. Chem. A 1997, 101, 5729) that the relaxation process of spectral width and that of average energy of the system should be characterized by different relaxation modes of solvent molecules. In the binary solvents a slow relaxation process was observed especially for the spectral width, which was assigned to the translational diffusion of polar component of solvent molecules. On the other hand, the relaxation of average energy was not effectively affected by the solvent mixing, which could be attributed mainly to fast relaxation processes, the libration and/or rotational diffusion of solvent molecules in the closest solvation shell. Even if the distribution of the solvent shell would be disturbed by the slower translational diffusion mode of polar solvent molecules, the average energy could be immediately compensated by the fast relaxation of solvent surroundings. The developments of the molecular theory on the translational dynamics should be necessary for essential understanding of the results obtained here.
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